The Avengers are my teachers!
by Det-du106
Summary: Melody is an eight year old girl who was orphaned young. She doesn't know who her parents are and is treated badly in school and at home. But when school starts after summer vacation there are new teachers. All of them young, and now they have a principle with an eyepatch? Melody senses something off with her new teachers. She'll figure it out but can these new teachers help her?
1. Prologue

Sometimes Melody couldn't help but wonder how her life turned out this way. Living in an orphanage, bullied and abused. Melody is eight and has no idea about who her parents are. She isn't even sure if she wants to know. She didn't understand the people who wanted to get to know the parents that gave them up. They didn't deserve to be forgiven or have a relationship with their children. She couldn't help but feel a little guilty at the thought. She knew that she didn't think like that she just didn't want to be reminded. She was left at 'Miss Hart's home for girls' when she was only two hours old. She didn't want to but she couldn't help but wonder why the left her. Another part of her understood. Who would want a fat, suicidal freak for a daughter anyway. Melody had long red curly hair, reaching just past her shoulders and big green eyes with long dark eyelashes. She is really short for her age and studies Swedish and Spanish in school. She is left-handed and right-footed. She has full red lips and a perfectly shaped nose that fit her face perfectly. When Melody looked into the mirror she couldn't see any of this. Her entire life she had been treated like a homeless dog. She had been blinded by other peoples hatred to be able to see her real beauty.


	2. First day of school, Sept 9th, Romanoff

Melody smiled slightly as she noticed the blood flowing down her right wrist to later drop to the floor. She loved to just sit there and watch. It made her feel something, it showed her that she was alive. Melody wanted to feel alive more than anything. The blade she was holding in her left hand had been her lifeline for a while. It was the one thing that made her feel something. It had helped her through so many things, both good and bad. What she felt when she dragged the blade across her wrist or her thigh made her feel better than she ever had during her short eight years. Years that felt like an eternity. It protected her from all the harsh words that escaped peoples lips. She bit her lip as she looked at the clock. She knew that she soon would face the wrath of school and Ms. Hart. It was the first day of school and she had no idea if it was a good thing or a bad thing. The good thing was that she escaped Ms. Hart for a couple of hours. The bad thing was that she would face all of her bullies once again. The teachers never did anything to help her. If Melody knew one thing it was that she would never admit defeat no matter what happened.  
"School!", Melody jumped at Ms. Hart's loud voice. If only she could disappear. The world would be so much better with the eight year old girl. She stood up on shaky legs and walked towards the sink and washed off all of the blood. She quickly dried her arm and hopped that the cuts wouldn't open up while she was in school. She didn't need anything coming out. She shuddered at the thought. If people found out on the first day of school she would have to live with it for a long time. She quickly put her blade in her pocket, grabbed her bag and rushed down the stairs. Wanting to get out of the orphanage as soon as possible. No matter what she would face the next couple of hours.

Melody didn't take the bus as everyone else. She didn't want to spend more time then necessary with the other children. She appreciated the time she got to spend alone. It was also a great way to lose all of that weight she carried around. No matter how hard she tried she never felt satisfied with her weight. Maybe it was because of the people around her and what they screamed after her. Everyone said the same thing. She was fat and ugly. Melody knew that it must be true otherwise someone would disagree. Not that Melody minded, she wanted to know what people thought about her so that she could change for the better. It never seemed to be enough though. She couldn't help but sigh slightly. She wanted nothing else but skip school. She knew that she couldn't do it. Mostly because she knew what Ms. Hart would do to her if she ever got a call. She took a deep breath before she started running. She needed to hurry if she didn't want to be late. She stopped for a while as she noticed the school in front of her. The school itself didn't look bad, no one who walked past it would think any different of it. No one would ever know what was going on inside of the red brick house, behind that brown door. She took a shaky breath before she calmly walked through the gates.

* * *

"I don't wanna do this.", Tony whined making Natasha groan. She really didn't want him whining in her ear during the entire mission.  
"Stark, I swear, if I hear another whine coming from you I'm gonna make you wish you were never born.", Natasha growled at him making him grow quiet. If it was one thing everyone knew it was to never make the assassin angry. She could kill you with just a snap.  
"I still don't understand why we have to be teachers, can't we be clowns?", she heard a small chuckle coming from Clint who was walking beside her. She quickly glared at him before bringing her attention back to Tony.  
"Listen, we don't wanna teach any eight year olds just as much as you do, so please, shut up!", they all looked up as they saw Fury walk into the room.  
"Um, Fury don't you think you're gonna scare the kids with that eyepatch of yours?", Natasha looked at Steve with a small smirk on her lips. He could be so cute sometimes. She couldn't help but pale slightly. Natasha didn't do cute. She had really grown soft these past few years.  
"Don't you think they'd be more scared if they saw him without it?", the others chuckled slightly as they saw Steve blush at Natasha's response. It was clear to everyone but the two of them that they had feelings for each other. They were both very obvious to what was in front of them. They stopped when they saw Fury's face turn serious.  
"You know why we're here right.",  
"Too take care of stupid eight year olds.", Tony muttered. He quickly got an elbow in his side from Natasha.  
"More like protect them.", Fury said with a glare making Tony sigh loudly. "Whatever here are your schedules.", Fury handed out a different copy to each Avenger. "Let's get this show on the road and Stark...", Tony looked at him confused. "Don't fuck this up!"

* * *

Melody looked down on her schedule with a sigh. Her first lesson was with a 'Miss Romanoff'. Melody had never heard about her before. In fact she had never heard about any of the teachers before. They all seemed to be new. Same goes for the principle. A Mr. Fury. She couldn't help but shake her head at his name. She hoped the man wasn't anything like his name. She looked over the schedule again. She couldn't help but smile slightly. By the look of her schedule she would be in the same classroom for most of her classes. That meant she didn't have to leave the room. That was unless they had teachers that would lock the door as soon as class was over. The teachers who didn't want any students in the classroom during recess.

Monday:

8:15-9:40 - Math, Mr Banner

10:00-11:30 - Technology, Mr Stark

11:30-12:15 - Lunch

12:15-13:30 - Spanish, Miss Romanoff

Tuesday:

8:15-9:45 - Swedish, Mr Barton

10:05-12:05 - Dance, Miss Romanoff

12:05-13:00 - Lunch

13:00-14:15 - English, Mr Barton

14:45-16:00 - Art, Mr Rogers

Wednesday:

8:15-9:30 - Spanish, Miss Romanoff

10:00-11:00 - Biology, Mr Banner

11:00-11:45 - Lunch

11:45-13:00 - Sport, Mr Rogers

13:30-14:30 - Religion, Mr Odinson

Thursday:

8:15-9:15 - Math, Mr Banner

9:30-10:45 - Swedish, Mr Barton

10:45-11:30 - Lunch

11:30-13:00 - Art, Mr Rogers

13:30-15:00 - Dans, Miss Romanoff

Friday:

9:30-10:30 - Technology, Mr Stark

10:40-11:40 - History, Mr Odinson

11:40-12:20 - Lunch

12:20-13:20 - English, Mr Barton

* * *

Natasha couldn't help but feel nervous as she wrote her name on the board. She had no idea how she was gonna interact with these children. She did great when she spent time with Clint's children, she knew that. This however was different. She had no idea who these kids were. She smiled slightly as she saw a girl slowly walking inside the classroom with her nose buried in her schedule. The girl slowly went towards the back of the classroom, hopping not to be noticed. Natasha hesitated before she put the whiteboard pen down and went over to the tiny redheaded girl. She noticed how the girl quickly realized that she wasn't completely alone and that she had felt her come closer.  
"Hi sweetie, why are you sitting in the back? I don't bite you know.", Natasha hopped to bring a little smile on her face but it didn't work. "All right then... Let's introduce ourselves.", the girl only looked at her like she was crazy. She couldn't help but wish that she could break through to the girl. She didn't seem to trust very well. "I'm Natasha Romanoff and I'm your Spanish teacher.", she held out her hand. Natasha smiled slightly as she saw a small smile form on the girl's face.  
"Melody.", the girl said and out her tiny hand in hers, shaking it quietly.  
"Well Melody, it's nice meeting you.", Natasha took her hand from Melody's and went to remove a hairpiece that fell onto her face but froze when Melody flinched. She quickly had a bad feeling about the whole thing but decided to ignore it for the moment. "It's okay, I'm not gonna hurt you.", she quietly removed a piece of her red hair before standing up as more students started walking through the door.

* * *

Melody smiled slightly, so far she liked Miss Romanoff. She is the nicest teacher she has ever had. She couldn't help but feel... probably for the first time in forever, maybe even her entire life, a single ray of hope. That was until she opened her mouth and started speaking Spanish. The young girl might have been studying it since she was about six years old but it never stuck in her head. It came through one ear and out the other. She had it really easy when it came to Swedish and English. It was kind of ironic when you thought about it. Swedish is supposed to be one of the hardest languages in the world and she still found it easier than Spanish. Spanish was like Chinese to her. Melody jumped slightly as Miss Romanoff mentioned her name. She looked at the middle aged woman confused.  
"I asked if you would like to introduce yourself.", the only answer Melody gave her was sinking into the chair. It didn't take long before the glass begin to giggle slightly. They all knew that she had problem with Spanish and still they used this against her.  
"What's wrong fatso afraid you'll eat her if you open your mouth?", this made the class laugh even harder. Melody could feel some teardrops roll down her face.  
"Savannah, principles office now. I will not tolerate that kind of behavior.", Savannah was about to protest. "No buts, why don't you tell your friends about what you think of principle Fury later.", Savannah stood up and walked out of the classroom with her head down. It was clear that she wasn't used to being in trouble. "I'm very disappointed in all of you. I wish I could send you all to the principle's office.", she looked at the class with serious eyes. "But I can't.", she was quiet for a while. "How would you feel if you were Melody?",  
"Well, we aren't the freak now are we.", she looked down on her lap slightly. The girl wasn't shocked about the answer.  
"Aron, you too. Principle's office.", Melody was shocked to say the least. No one in this class has ever been sent to the principles office for being mean to her. Ms. Romanoff didn't seem to follow the same rules as the other teachers had. The teachers never sent their students to the principle for one simple reason. They didn't want to get on his bad side. She had a feeling this new principle might be better and actually try to do something about what was going on. All of the things that Ms. Romanoff was doing for her, seemed to come so natural. She couldn't help but admire the woman. She looked up as she heard a sigh. "I can't stand to listen to you kids right now. Class dismissed.", the students quickly grabbed all of their things and rushed out of the classroom. Melody had a feeling that it had something to do with their new teacher. "Mel, can I talk to you for a sec.", it took a while before Melody realized that the woman was referring to her. She was so used to being called Melody and a bunch of rude names to realize that she could have a nickname. She looked at the teacher and nodded with tears in her eyes.

* * *

Natasha looked at Melody sadly as she saw the tears running down her sad little face. What happened next took them both by surprise. Natasha pulled the eight year old into a hug. Natasha's eyes were wide. She never pulled people into hugs, she had no idea what has gotten into her. She hated when people touched her. Of course she made a small exception for Steve. She hadn't even realized that until now. She shook her head slightly. There was no time to think about Steve at the moment.  
"How long has this been going on?", Melody only clung onto her tighter. Natasha slowly stood up with Melody clinging onto her before she sat down with the girl in her lap. "Are you gonna tell me?", the only response she got was a shrug. "Alright, why didn't you introduce yourself then?", this time Natasha got a whisper. "What?",  
"I don't know Spanish..", the girl said quietly.  
"But you've been studying it since you were six.", Natasha was a little confused.  
"I know...", it was so quiet Natasha barley heard what she said. "It's weird, I have really easy for Swedish but this.. I just don't understand.", Natasha thought slightly before she smiled. While she was here she was going to make sure to check on the girl and make her smile at least once a day.  
"Let's do it like this. I give you a list with stuff you can study.", Melody looked at her a little confused. "While the others work on different project you work with what's written on your list.", Melody looked at her a little before she nodded. "Good.. I gotta go now it looks like Mr Banner is gonna take over now.", Natasha flicked the younger girl's nose slightly before she put Melody down, grabbed her things and left the classroom looking back at the girl one last time.

Natasha quickly walked towards the principle's office hopping to see Fury. She hopped those kids got what they deserved. No child should ever be treated like the way all these kids treated Melody. She wished that she would have been able to send all of the kids to the office. No one did anything, they just laughed at what was escaping the other students lips. But she knew that the office was only so big and Fury would be pissed if an entire class showed up on the first day. She quickly opened the door and walked inside making Fury look up.  
"Two kids 25 minutes after class starts, must be a new record.", he smirked slightly at the assassin standing in front of him. Natasha only rolled her eyes at the man.  
"What, they were making fun of one of the students. I would have sent them all.", at this the man raised his eyebrow. "You wouldn't have enough room for all of them.", Natasha saw how Fury thought slightly. "What was this student's name?", he picked up a pen and grabbed a piece of paper.  
"Melody.", she said with a small smile on her face. She quickly wiped it off her face but she knew that Fury had seen it.  
"I'll notify the rest of the team so they can keep an eye on it okay.", Natasha nodded with a small smile on her face. She could always count on Fury. "Anything else Romanoff?", a sigh followed his words.  
"Yes.. did they think you were scary?", the only thing she got in response was a loud chuckle.


	3. part two, Mr Banner Lunch

Bruce frowned as he saw Natasha sitting with a young girl on her knee. He shook his head slightly. This didn't seem like Natasha at all. She wasn't someone who would get close to people. In fact, she was probably the one who had been dreading this mission the most. He had no idea that she would be able to handle it this good. He guessed that the woman always came with new surprises.  
"Good... I gotta go now, it looks like Mr Banner is gonna take over now.", he heard her say before she stood up and placed the girl back on the chair. Bruce decided to ignore what just happened before he walked in and quickly wrote his name on the board. He really hopped non of the kids would make him to angry, he didn't want to Hulk out and end up hurting them. He had no idea what Fury had been thinking giving them this mission. He should know better than anyone that putting the Avengers on missions that would last for a while would end up being the death of them. They were all like a family, but you could only spend so much time together before you exploded. Now they didn't only see each other at home, but now also on this mission. He sighed slightly as he heard the bell ring. It didn't take long before he could hear footsteps coming towards the classroom. They were chatting quite loudly and if it was one thing Bruce didn't like much it was yelling. It didn't take long before he noticed a man with an eyepatch walk into to room. Fury.  
"Banner can I talk to you quickly.", he said quietly as Bruce nodded, following him out of the classroom.  
"You see that redheaded girl.", Bruce nodded slowly. "According to Natasha the others are making fun of her, if you could keep an eye on her it would be good.", Bruce quickly realized that was the reason the woman had been talking to the tiny girl. No matter what she had done in the past, everyone knew that she had a soft spot for children. Even if she didn't want to admit it herself.  
"I'll do that.", Bruce turned around and headed back into the classroom, Fury following him. "Hello, my name is Bruce Banner and I'm gonna be your history and math teacher this year", he turned to look at the man standing beside him. "And this is your principle Nick Fury.", he saw how all the kids looked at him with their jaws on the floor. He almost wanted to laugh, or at least take a picture.  
"Nice to meet you.", he began. "As said, I'm your new principle and I see everything.", with that he turned around and left the classroom leaving it quiet. Bruce smiled slightly at the kids shocked faces. He found a way to get them quiet. The only thing he needed was to go and get Fury.

* * *

Melody almost wanted to laugh at the others faces. They looked so scared, Isaac even looked like he wanted to pee his pants. Melody could tell that the new principle was nice, nicer than the last one. Melody didn't know how long ago she had felt this happy. It had been a long time. She smiled as Mr. Banner started teaching about the second world war. She already knew all about this subject. She loves history and she loves to read so she did a lot of research and borrowed books from jews who had survived the camps. She played slightly with her pen. She had no idea what to do so she decided to take notes just in case. She knew that she wouldn't need them but she had nothing better to do.

"Were gonna start with a project.", Melody bit her lip slightly. She hoped that she could work alone. As if the man had read her mind he opened his mouth again. "You can chose if you want to work together or alone. I will give each group a subject on the second world war and that is what you will be doing for the next two weeks.", Melody took a sigh of relief she had a feeling this year would be better than she had hoped. The kids quickly chose who they wanted to work with while Melody sat quiet. "Everyone decided?", the class nodded in return. "Good.", he smiled warmly at the class. "Let's see here... Mark?",  
"Um.. I'm with Michael.", Mr Banner quickly wrote their names on the whiteboard.  
"Hannah?", it continued like that for the next couple of minutes until everyone was paired up. "Melody, are you going to work alone?", she nodded quietly before Mr Banner put her name on the board.  
"Of course she's gonna work alone, no one wants to work with fugly anyways.", Melody ignored her and looked out of the window watching as a bird flew by.  
"Savannah, office!", Melody stifled a giggle, it's the second time today. Savannah usually never gets into trouble, she wondered what the new principle were thinking. First day and one of the students had already been there twice. After the girl left Bruce quickly handed out their assignments before the bell rang.

* * *

Melody groaned as she felt another punch in her stomach. This was what a normal day look like for her. She should have never believed that this year would be better. It was continuing like it usually did, except for those new teachers who sent two from her class to the principle. This time she didn't feel a punch in her stomach. This time it was a kick. The young girl tried to catch her breath. She was relieved that she didn't eat anything, she would have thrown up all over the floor. She soon found herself on the floor getting kicked in various places. The only thing she could hope for was that this nightmare would end. Suddenly some footsteps could be heard. It was clear that it wasn't any of the students.  
"What the hell is going on here.", Melody recognized the voice as principle Fury's. "Everyone, my office now!", he growled before he turned towards new steps. "Rogers, take the girl to Hill.", Melody looked up slightly and saw a blond man with baby blue eyes watching her worriedly.

Melody flinched as the nurse cleaned up the blood from her face. The only thing Melody wanted to do was sleep. She wanted to escape all this pain.  
"There we go, I can't do anything about the bruises but I suggest you skip sports. Is that okay with you Rogers?", he nodded quietly as Melody jumped down from the bed. "Take her to Natasha, she doesn't have a lesson, she has lunch right now.", Melody slowly followed Mr Rogers out of the room and towards Miss Romanoff.  
"Melody right?", she nodded slowly. "Are you gonna tell me what happened.", Melody bit her lip, deciding not to answer the mans question. She had a feeling that things would get worse from this moment. "Okay then... here we are.", he slowly opened the door making Miss Romanoff look up. "Knock, knock.", she shook her head slightly.  
"It's no idea to say knock,knock if you don't knock Rogers.", Melody felt her look turn towards her instead. "Come on in Melody.", Mr Rogers lightly pushed her inside and followed her to the table. She could feel Ms. Romanoff's eyes on her. "Melody, I told you I don't bite.", she could feel her cheeks turn hot. She actually did say that. She carefully sat down on one of the chairs before she started playing with her hands.  
"Bye Melody, see you around Nat.", Melody wrinkled her eyebrows. Nat? Mr. Rogers has a nickname for Ms. Romanoff. Natasha seemed to notice the look of confusion on her face.  
"We've known each other for three years.", Melody nodded slightly in response. "You've eaten yet?", she quickly nodded her head before her stomach rumbled slightly. The young girl cursed to herself. Why did her stomach have to betray her like that. "You sure about that?", she nodded again. "Bullshit Mel, come on.", Ms. Romanoff quickly stood up and went to get an extra plate. Melody couldn't help but wiggle in her seat nervously. She didn't need any more calories than necessary. She noticed how the teacher put some food on her plate making her gulp slightly. There was way to much food. "Here you go." Melody looked at the food. She felt like crying. Why did the world hate her? Why did her stomach have to rumble? If her stomach hadn't rumbled her new teacher would be forcing food at her right now. She knew that she couldn't say no to eating, it would be rude to the woman who just gave her some of her food.

* * *

Natasha was worried. She could tell that the young girl was hiding something. The girl had told her she wasn't hungry before her stomach rumbled like a war was going on. When she had food in front of her she didn't even touch it. Natasha couldn't help but think of the worst. She really hoped that it wasn't the case, but she just had that feeling inside of her that told her that she was right.  
"Are you not going to eat that?", she saw how Melody slowly picked up her fork and with a shaky hand before she put some food in it. It took a while but the food was suddenly in her mouth and the young girl seemed to be chewing like there was no tomorrow. Natasha bit her lip sadly. An eight year old shouldn't feel this way about herself. The girl quickly washed down the food with some water before she repeated the process. She only had about three bites before she put her fork down.  
"I'm full.", now Natasha knew that she was right. No wonder that girl was so tiny. She didn't eat anything. She was probably short as it was before this started.  
"You only had four bites.", she said carefully, wanting to get some sort of reaction out of the girl. She saw how tears started welling up in Melody's green eyes. She couldn't help but let a small sigh escape her lips before she grabbed the girl's plate, eating the rest of her food. "Tomorrow I'm gonna make you eat more than this okay.", by the look on Melody's face the girl didn't seem to like that idea. Natasha decided to try using the same trick that always used to work on Clint's children while they were younger. "If you want to grow up to be strong you might want to eat this.", she skipped the big part hoping that it would help the young girl. The young girl only looked to the side before she stood up.  
"Where's the bathroom.", Natasha sighed. She knew exactly what the young girl was about to do. No one should feel this way about themselves, especially an eight year old girl. She knew that the problem isn't just in the school. It was probably at home too. She could see the signs of child abuse but she couldn't report it until she knew for sure. There was only two things she knew about and that was about the bullying and the eating disorder. She had no idea how, but she needed to help this girl no matter what it takes.  
"The door beside Fury's office.", Melody quickly left not knowing that Natasha was following her quietly. She might have tried to be more careful is she knew that the woman was a trained assassin. Someone who had been trained since she was a little girl.

* * *

Melody closed and locked the door behind her before she bent down and stuck two fingers down her throat. She hated throwing up but she didn't need those four pieces of chicken Natasha managed to make her eat. She sat on the floor for a while before she stood up on shaky legs, flushed the toilet and washed her hands. Before she left she quickly washed her mouth, wanting to get rid of the horrible taste. She hesitated slightly as she looked herself in the mirror. She carefully lifted her shirt and looked down on her stomach. She could see the small bulge from the chicken she just ate. She took a deep breath before she pulled her shirt back down and unlocked the door. She froze as she noticed who was standing outside with her arms crossed, studying her. It was clear that the older woman had figured out one of her many secrets. Melody felt like crying, but she had done that enough for today. She didn't need Ms. Romanoff to think of her as some little whiny child. She soon found herself being pulled towards the couch. This wasn't a conversation she was going to enjoy.


	4. part three, Natasha needs to know

**It's been about a year and a half since I last posted. I have updated the three first chapters a little, made them longer. I have been thinking about changing this story slightly but I'm not sure yet. I thought that I would finish this one before I decide what to do** **. What do you think? Should I continue this? Here is the next chapter anyway.**

* * *

Melody dreaded what was happening. The first day with new teachers and one of them had already found out what she was doing to herself. She bit her lip slightly. Ms. Romanoff did not look happy. She didn't look mad either which was something that surprised the eight year old. She actually looked kind of sad. Melody could tell that the woman was trying to hide it though. She wasn't fooling her. The young girl had always been good at reading people and she couldn't help but find something fishy about what was going on. Where were all of their teachers, where was the principal? It wasn't normal that they would all quit during the summer. Especially principal McGee. He was obsessed with making all of their lives miserable. The teachers were horrible too. None of them seemed to care about the children, they only cared about themselves. Melody however chose to ignore these suspiciousness. She liked the teachers she had met so far. They actually seemed to care about them. She took a deep breath and looked up at Ms. Romanoff, clearly uncomfortable. She had no idea how to act with people caring for her. She was used to being alone. She didn't need someone to care for her.  
"You want to tell me what's going on.", Melody only shrugged in response. She had no idea how she would explain herself without exposing what was going on at the orphanage. This mad Ms. Romanoff sigh slightly. It was clear that she wanted Melody to open up. "You know that I'm not going to give up until you tell me.", a small smile tugged at the little girl's lips. "I can tell that you're stubborn, but so am I, and I have a feeling that you know that.",

* * *

Natasha sighed slightly. Melody had been sitting beside her quietly for about an hour and a half. The little girl hadn't opened her mouth one time since. That's when Natasha decided to pull out some paperwork Fury had given her. She had ended up giving Melody a paper and a pencil she could use if she wanted to draw. It had taken a while before the girl made a move but when she did her pencil hadn't stopped moving once. It was like she was in a completely different world. The girl looked so much softer and less scared as she moved her hand over the paper, creating a picture. Natasha couldn't help but watch her. Melody was beautiful, she couldn't understand why someone would want to hurt her. As far as she knew Melody was the sweetest thing she had ever met. Not that she had met a lot of sweet things before. Steve and Thor were some of the few sweet things she knew, which meant, not a lot. She tore her eyes away from Melody with a sigh, continuing her paperwork. This was going to be a long day.

* * *

To say that Tony was upset was to put things light. This was one of his worst nightmares. Tony Stark did not do children, Tony Stark hated children. Natasha for some reason had found this highly amusing before calling him a child and telling him that he would fit right in. As soon as he walked through the door to the teachers launch he started complaining.  
"I hate children, I'm going to kill Fury for this, we are not baby-", Tony went quiet as he noticed that someone else was in the room. "Well hello there mini Red.", Tony chuckled nervously as he felt Natasha's glare at him. "Red.", he said with a nod before looking at the redheaded child sitting in front of him with a paper and pen. He gave her a nervous smile as he noticed the suspicious look on her face. "I better go.", with that he rushed out of the room hoping to get away from the suspicious girl and the woman with a fatal glare.

* * *

Natasha swore slightly under her breath. Tony almost ruined everything. She would have thought that Thor would be the first and Tony second, but she guessed that she had to be wrong once. Suddenly she felt Melody's questioning eyes on her. She only shrugged in response. She had no idea what to say. She never did when it came to Stark. The only thing she could say was... he was Tony. She was about to open her mouth and speak to the young girl now that she wasn't occupied with her drawing, she was wrong. As soon as Melody had gotten her answers she had returned right back to the drawing. Natasha knew that the girl was ignoring her, she had no idea what to feel about that. She wasn't used to being treated that way, and frankly it hurt slightly. She thought that Melody trusted her at least a little. She had really hoped that the girl would open up and talk to her. No one did this for fun. Especially not an eight year old. Eight year olds were supposed to be outside playing with friends, not trying to lose weight. Natasha could only guess what was going on, but she knew that there was probably more to it than being bullied in school. How come her parents didn't notice anything. It seemed like the girl was surprised that Natasha even cared. It reminded her to much of herself. She didn't want anyone to turn into her. It was enough with one Natasha. Many people thought it was to much and wanted her dead. That was why she was grateful for the rest of the Avengers, they all had each others back. Well mostly anyway. She needed to talk to Fury about Melody. Maybe not the eating disorder, but she needed to find out more about the girl.

"Good day lady Natasha.", a booming voice echoed through the room. She could feel Melody jump slightly at the loud voice. They really needed to teach Thor how to speak in a lower tone. She looked towards the clock quickly. It was 13:20 already. Time had flown by like that. It wasn't because of the paperwork that was for sure. It was probably because she had company, not the annoying company of Tony Stark. She couldn't help but wonder where he had run off to.  
"Thor.", she nodded slightly at the demigod standing in front of them. The young girl sitting beside her suddenly put her drawing aside, stood up and walked around the demigod with an awe expression on her face.  
"Where did you get muscles like that.", at that Natasha couldn't help but laugh at. If she only knew.  
"They grew with me.", Melody gave the man a strange expression while Natasha smacked her forehead slightly. At least the guy had lasted about an hour longer than Tony had.  
"They grew with you? You're saying that you've had these muscles since you were a baby?", at that Thor nodded proudly. Natasha shook her head slightly. She needed to interrupt this before Thor spilled everything and ruined their entire operation. If these kids found out the truth, everything would be ruined. They didn't need this. They needed to protect these children, no matter what.  
"Melody, this is Thor Odinson the history and religion teacher.", at that the young girl's mouth dropped open.  
"You're a... this man's a teacher?", she looked at Natasha with wide eyes while pointing towards Thor with her thumb making Natasha nod. "You sure?", the redhead nodded again. "You do not look like a teacher.", Thor looked over at Natasha worriedly. "In fact, none of you look like you're teachers, the only one who seems to fit in of the people I've met so far is Mr. Banner.", Natasha was starting to get nervous.  
"Melody, don't you have a lesson you need to get to?", at that the young girl frowned.  
"Um, no.", at that Natasha titled her head. "How am I supposed to have a lesson to go to if the teacher is standing right here.", she motioned towards Thor again. Natasha wanted to laugh. She wanted to see Thor teach. He was like a puppy. Confused and curious to the world around him. If the kids pulled any pranks, he would have no idea how to act. He was used to the small pranks they would pull against each other back at the tower. He had no idea about pranks in school. They could take it to a whole new level.  
"Alright lady Melody, lets be on our way.", she noticed a small blush cover the little girl's cheeks as the two left the room. She was going to need to catch up with the girl later.

* * *

Thor wasn't a person to get nervous, but now when he knew that he really needed to try and fit in in a world that wasn't his. That was something completely different. He had almost blown their cover already and the look of panic he saw on lady Natasha's face... it wasn't something he wanted to experience again. He had only noticed that look once. When friend Steve had been injured. The two of them seemed to care for each other a lot. Like him with lady Jane. He looked to the tiny girl walking beside him. A perfect image of a little lady Natasha. He was pulled out of his thoughts when he saw a group of children standing in front of the classroom door. He took his time opening the door. He still wasn't used to these keys. He took a sigh of relief as the door finally opened. He hoped that they didn't find it suspicious. He noticed the small redhead head right to back corner of the classroom. It had taken him until now to figure out that this was the girl that friend Fury had talked about. He turned towards the board. He had only recently learned how to write in English. He was used to writing in runic. He slowly wrote his name on the board before writing in in runic. They were going to work about the nordic mythology, which involved him. That was probably why friend Fury had told him to teach them about it. He knew a lot about it. Maybe he could teach them how to write in runic too. That would be fun, for him. It was easier for him to read.  
"My name is Thor Odinson.", he said with a booming voice making the children jump. "I am your religion teacher.", he was quiet for a while. "We are going to work with the nordic mythology. He couldn't help but notice the little head that popped up. He had gotten the quiet girl to react to school work. Everyone had told him that children didn't care about school. He was going to prove them wrong. "What do you know about the nordic mythology? How many gods are there?", he heard a small sigh come from the back when no one answered.  
"32.", the tiny redhead put her head in her hand.  
"That is correct. I can tell we're going to get along great.

* * *

Fury couldn't help but shake his head. After lunch time Stark had burst through his door complaining about who knows what. It didn't really come as a surprised to him though. It would surprise him if the man didn't do it. He said something about children being stupid and not understanding technology at all. When he had heard those words he only shook his head. They were eight years old. What did the man expect? Geniuses? He let out a small come in as he heard a knock. It didn't surprise him when he saw Natasha.  
"May I help you?", he looked down on his papers again.  
"Melody.",  
"Lovely, but not my name.", he could almost see Natasha rolling her eyes before she let out a sigh.  
"I need you to find out what you can about her.", this made the man look up suspiciously.  
"Something I should know?", the woman in front of him only shook her head.  
"No, can you do it?", Fury hesitated slightly before nodding. It was clear that Natasha was desperate. It wasn't often she begged for something. It must really be important if she wanted to know everything about the girl.  
"I'll see what I can find.", Natasha nodded at him with a small smile gracing her lips. Fury knew that he was going to regret this.


	5. part four, what's the plan?

**I was going to upload yesterday but I didn't have time, but here comes the next chapter :)**

* * *

Steve couldn't help but sneak a glance at Natasha who was sitting curled up on the couch, reading a book. At the moment they were at his floor. It often ended up like that. Those two, sitting together in a comfortable silence. Steve drawing (mostly Natasha) and Natasha reading. She always looked so relaxed, so calm when it was only the two of them. It was moments like these he really loved. Moments he knew that only a few people got to see. The softer, sweeter side of Natasha Romanoff. It didn't take long before he realized that she hadn't been reading for a while, just looking down on the page in her book, not moving her eyes. She seemed to be in really deep thoughts. He couldn't help but let out a small sigh.  
"What's wrong?", Natasha's head popped up in surprise.  
"Nothing.", he gave her a look making her look down on her hands. "It's just this girl... Melody.", he nodded at her words. He remembered the tiny little redhead. "Something's wrong, I asked Fury to dig into it for me.", she let out a sound before burying her nose in her book again. It was clear to Steve that she was trying to hide her emotions. He didn't say anything about it though. He knew better. The woman would come to him when she wanted to. You couldn't force Natasha into anything, she would only end up pushing you away. But he could tell that she was worried, and when Natasha worried about someone, she worried a lot.

* * *

Fury let a frown cover his face. He had been looking into the little girl for hours now and couldn't find any documents of her ever being born. It was as if she never existed or someone just didn't want anyone to know about her. It was like her mother had given birth to her in secret and then given her up. That was one of the only things he had been able to find. That the girl was an orphan. Since he couldn't find anything else he decided to look into the woman who ran the orphanage. Lynne Hart. I didn't look good and Fury feared for the children. It wasn't Lynne he feared the most. She had a brother. Clinton. He had been accused of child neglecting and rape. He wasn't charged for it though. Melody had shown small signs of being neglected. Scared of almost anything, hiding her arms as if she was covering something up. Not trusting anyone. He could tell from the moment he met her that she had trust issues. The others hadn't shown any signs of being neglected in any way. He had checked who else lived in the orphanage and there were children that went to the school. They seemed a lot more relaxed and not as scared as the tiny redhead. When he looked into the documents he did find it was what he could get. It wasn't much information so he knew that Natasha wouldn't be happy, but he had done what he could. He knew why she was worried though. It was clear that something wasn't right. There was something fishy about the entire situation. This girl shouldn't even exist according to records. It's like she was a product of some sort. Something they just wanted to hide. The furthest he had come when it came to the girl was that she had been found somewhere in a lab. He let out a small sigh before he picked up the phone to call Natasha. She was going to love this.

* * *

Melody was shaking with fear. Ms. Hart was in one of her moods again. When Ms. Hart was in a mood you should really fear for your life. At the moment all Melody wanted to do was go back to school. She might think school was bad, but at the moment it was better than being stuck here. At least they more people would know what was going on. All of the new teachers seemed to care. Well those she had met. She couldn't really tell about Mr. Stark though. She had only seen him for a moment and that was while he was complaining to Ms. Romanoff. Something was fishy about the entire situation. She needed to look into this. She only had to wait until she could hear Ms. Hart snoring, then she could start digging around. The only thing she wanted at the moment was for once in her life she would feel safe. She never had that luxury.

* * *

Natasha sighed as she heard her phone ring. She slowly put down her book and grabbed her phone. She could feel Steve's eyes on her but decided to ignore him. She looked at the id and quickly accepted the call.  
"Fury, what did you find?", at this she could feel Steve move closer to her. She held up her hand slightly as if asking him to be quiet.  
 _"Nothing. There's nothing about her anywhere, no birth certificate or anything. The only thing I was able to find was that she was found in a lab and that she's living in a place called 'Ms. Hart's home for girls.",_ Natasha took a deep breath. The girl was an orphan. No wonder she looked so shocked when she showed that she cared. She wasn't used to it. She had never felt like anyone had cared, much like Natasha did before. _"But I was able to find out more about Ms. Hart, you might want to come in for this.",_ Natasha nodded to herself. She had a feeling it wasn't any good bye the tone on Fury's voice.  
"I'm on my way.", with those words she ended the call and stood up. She needed to get there as quickly as possible. The suspense of not knowing was killing her.  
"I'm coming with you.", she raised her right eyebrow at the man in front of her before she shrugged slightly. She had absolutely nothing against Steve's company. In fact, he always somehow managed to make her feel better. He was comforting in a way.

* * *

Steve was pissed to say the least. How could they let a child neglector and rapist go free like that? This entire thing was crazy. Why would someone want to do something like that, especially to an innocent child. He looked over at Natasha it looked like she could break something at any moment. He could understand her. He put a hand on her stiff shoulder, trying to get her to relax slightly.  
"We don't know anything yet.", he tried to calm her down. Natasha gave him a look making him sigh. He knew that something probably was going on but he didn't want to jump to conclusions. "I'm sure she'll come forward if she trust us enough. We can't burst in there without knowing for sure.", he could feel Natasha take a deep breath as if she was trying to calm herself down.  
"That man has been reported by 15 different children for rape and abuse.", she looked up at him. "I don't think this is a coincidence Steve. That girl is afraid, afraid of more than her bullies.", he couldn't help but sigh slightly.  
"I know.", he rubbed her arm slightly making her wrap her arms around him. Steve couldn't help but let out a small gasp. This wasn't like Natasha at all, she wasn't someone to pull in for a hug. She hated human contact. He decided to ignore his thoughts and wrapped his arms around her tiny frame. They had to get to the bottom of this. They couldn't let any more children suffer by the hands of this man and if their conclusions were right, woman.

* * *

Melody let out a gasp as she woke up feeling a hand covering her face. She had no idea what was going on. She had never woken up like this before. She paled slightly as she noticed who was standing over her. Ms. Hart's brother. She had heard stories about him but she didn't know if they were true. Either way, things did not look good at the moment.  
"Don't you dare scream.", he pulled back his hand and soon Melody could feel herself be dragged out of her bed and out of the room. She knew that it wasn't good. Soon she saw herself in Clinton's room. She could feel her panic raising. Soon she found herself on the bed. "If you tell anyone about this I will kill you.", with that he pulled off her pajama pants and underwear. She stiffened and noticed the man in front of her unbuckle his pants. She wanted to scream, but she knew that it would get worse. She would have to hold it in. She could feel her tears fall down her checks. She missed school so much. She bit her lip to keep herself from screaming as he felt her push into her. It was like no pain she's ever experienced. When he started moving in and out of her she couldn't help but let out a muffled scream. The tears started falling down her face faster as he started moving harder and faster, pain ripping through her tiny body. She tried not to let out another scream but she couldn't help it. This time the scream wasn't muffled like the last one, it was like something Melody had never heard before. He started moving even harder and faster, grunting. She knew now. The more she screamed the more pain would come, but she couldn't stop herself, it hurt so much. It felt like hours before he basically collapsed on her. When he finally caught his breath Melody could feel him leave her body. "I warned you.", with that he pulled up his pants and threw Melody's at her. Melody moved slowly, trying not to show that she was in pain, but she knew that everyone who saw her would notice that something was wrong. She carefully pulled her underwear and pajama pants on and couldn't help but whimper as they touched her center. She slowly started limping back to her room that she shared with a couple of other girls. She could feel their eyes on her as she walked in. They had heard her scream for sure. Melody had never felt so ashamed in her entire life. She curled up on her bed, as if she was hoping that the pain would disappear, but Melody knew better than that.

* * *

"Can't sleep?", Natasha turned around to see Steve standing in the doorway with his arms crossed. She sighed slightly before shook her head slightly. "Yeah, me neither.", he took a cup on his own and filled it with coffee. He sat down in front of her as she looked into her cup.  
"I just can't stand it knowing that kids are close to a man like that.", she finally said before taking a small sip.  
"Hey, we'll fix this okay.", he grabbed her hand making her look up at him with a small smile gracing her lips.  
"Thank you.", he smiled back at her as he rubbed his thumb over her knuckles. They both jumped slightly as they heard a voice.  
"So, how's the Mr. and Mrs.?", Tony asked groggily. Steve noticed Natasha glaring at him from the corner of his eye. Tony took a cup and sat down beside Steve. "So, what are we talking about?", Steve rolled his eyes slightly as he shook his head. This was not how he expected the night to turn out. "Well?", he heard a small sigh coming from Natasha.  
"Melody.", he noticed a frown cover Tony's face.  
"The girl that was in the teachers launch?", Natasha nodded. "Man, did she figure it out already?", Steve couldn't help but chuckle slightly.  
"No.", Tony took a sigh of relief from beside him.  
"Then what?", Natasha pushed the files Fury had given them towards him. Tony quickly opened the folder and Steve could see a look that he wasn't familiar with. It was a mix between bitter and angry. "So what's the plan?",


End file.
